Cones are shown along the road to Mount Rushmore. The National Parks Service placed the cones there to prevent viewers from stopping on the side of the road to view the monument. / Submitted photo

Written by

Shutdown, Day Five

Prospects for a swift end to the four-day-old partial government shutdown all but vanished Friday as lawmakers increasingly shifted focus to a midmonth deadline to avert a first-ever default. IMPASSE: “This isn’t some damn game,” said House Speaker John Boehner, as Democrats reiterated that they will negotiate only after the government is reopened and the $16.7 trillion debt limit raised to pay for federal obligations. SHIFT IN DEMANDS: House Republicans de-emphasized their call on health care reform and ramped up a push for cuts in federal benefit programs and future deficits. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also said the two issues are linked. “We not only have a shutdown, but we have the full faith and credit of our nation before us in a week or 10 days,” he said. PREDICTION: Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Friday “it’s likely this shutdown will continue for some time.” Cruz is a leader of a Republican contingent that has refused to accede to funding government services unless Obamacare is repealed or delayed. PRESSURE WITHIN: Cruz tried Friday without success to bring up bills passed by the House of Representatives that fund selected agencies, with no support from fellow Republican senators. Democrats blocked his every move, but Cruz said he would stick to his guns. “My focus is on stopping the Harry Reid shutdown,” Cruz said. Some other Republicans have been lashing back. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., called Cruz “a fraud” on CNN this week. On Friday, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., spoke out on the Senate floor against Cruz’s “ill-conceived strategy.” GOP GOVERNORS: Some Republican governors with national politicial aspirations for 2016 were trying to distance themselves from Republicans in Congress who linked a government shutdown to a repeal or delay of Obamacare. “Republican governors are not going to take it anymore,” wrote Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in an opinion piece. “We are not going to allow the Republican Party to be defined by the dysfunction in Washington.” PLEA: A National Weather Service dispatch Friday for south-central and southwestern Alaska posted online and sent to media outlets at 5 a.m. contained a secret message: The first letters of each line on the left-hand column read “PLEASE PAY US.” HELP IN SIOUX FALLS: The HelpLine Center in Sioux Falls is assisting military families who were furloughed or are missing paychecks because of the shutdown. Dial 2-1-1 to find out about community resources or attend a Military Family Forum from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Downtown Library. A light dinner and child care will be provided.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Blocking access to trails and programs at South Dakota’s most popular attraction was one thing, but state officials didn’t expect Congress’ budget stalemate to shut down a view of Mount Rushmore.

The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument.

The cones first went up Oct. 1, said Dusty Johnson, Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s chief of staff. The state asked that they be taken down, and federal officials did so with some of them. The state was told the cones were a safety precaution to help channel cars into viewing areas rather than to bar their entrance.

“I think reasonable people can disagree about that,” Johnson said.

The cones were down again Friday as a blizzard hit the Black Hills and plows needed access to the roads, Johnson said. He said the state would be monitoring to see whether the cones are put back along viewing areas.

“They won’t even let you pull off on the side of the road,” Hagen said. “I just don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish.”

A spokeswoman for the National Park Service in Omaha confirmed that the monument is closed, but she said she didn’t have details about cones. A message left at Mount Rushmore was not returned.

The closure is part of a budget showdown between House Republicans who want to defund the Affordable Care Act and Democrats who want to preserve funding. Republicans have passed spending bills that would open the parks and restore services to other areas of the federal government, but Democrats say the Republicans should pass a spending that bill that funds the Affordable Care Act, too.

“The best way to restore access to all national parks, including Mount Rushmore, is for Speaker Boehner and the House to pass a clean continuing resolution and end the government shutdown,” Plumart said.

But Republicans said the administration is unnecessarily making the shutdown more painful than needed — including coning off viewing areas near Mount Rushmore.

“It disgusts me that taxpayer resources were used on this act of stupidity,” Rep. Kristi Noem said. “This is federal government arrogance at its worst.”

Sen. John Thune said he had seen photos of the coned-off viewing areas, and he said it’s “outrageous” if federal officials are barring people from pulling over and taking pictures from the highway.

“It seems to me, on a lot of levels — and we saw this out here with the World War II Memorial — the administration wants to make this as painful as possible,” Thune said, referring to barricades around the memorial.

Thune said the Senate could easily take up spending bills to fund parks and other specific items rather than an overall spending bill, but he said Democrats have refused. “They, obviously, prefer to have the issue and not the solution,” he said.

Daugaard offered to keep Mount Rushmore open using state resources, Dusty Johnson noted. The National Park Service declined.